Handle With Care
by Cant.Resist
Summary: What did the Joker do to her?
1. New Patient

8:03 p.m. Saturday, February 20th, 2010

_Patient, Cecilia McAlan was transferred to Arkham's isolation unit after refusal of medication, relentless pounding of her head against the wall and attacking several guards. She will be held there until Dr. Peterson arrives back in Gotham to assess her personally, until then all attending physicians are assigned to record and log all of her behaviors. _

"Behaviors?" Dr. Tullius asked. The mandatory request was less than helpful for her lingering questions. The warden uneasily shifted in his chair, this particular patient's history made the warden's nerves soar greatly. His fingers began to mindless tap against his leg.

"Sit down Cathy, I'll explain." The doctor held her clipboard tight to her, as she sat down. Her eyes wide, but she said nothing to him, while he poured himself a rather tall glass of scotch. He downed his drink and began to pour another before he spoke. "Ms. McAlan was admitted to Arkham three months ago, by request of the Gotham Police Department."

"She's a criminal?"

"On the contraire, she's a victim. The police psychiatrist deemed her as too unstable to fit in with society."

"Victim of what, per say?" He put down his drink; extreme hesitation seemed to cloud his usual husky voice.

"What I now tell you is to be kept quiet, no one outside of Arkham is to know about her presence, let alone the crimes committed against her, got that?"

"Yes sir, you have my word." She moved in closer, just barely teetering on the edge of her seat, now she was personally intrigued by what he had to say.

"She was severely maimed and beaten over the course of a year. Somehow she had managed to escape her captor, and fled directly to the police. Her psyche is considered to be irreversibly damaged by the prolonged terror that she was said to have dealt with. She claims her 'demon', her captor, tells her to do things along with the voices in her head. Which can't be plausibly explained because only Dr. Peterson, I and selective members of the Gotham Police Department knows of her true identity." He paused, and swallowed down mouthful of scotch. "The Cane family has paid dearly to keep her identity enclosed."

"The prestigious multi-billionaire Cane family?"

"That would be the one." She was confused. Why would the second richest family in Gotham, behind Bruce Wayne, want to cover up this girl's identity. Was she related to the Cane family?

"I didn't hear about her kidnapping on the news."

"Oh yes, you have. But the Canes have been very careful. They have made her true identity unknown by the public. They don't want their name to mix up this media sensation. You know her under a different name. Does the name Smiles mean anything to you?" She gasped. It was a young, beautiful dark haired girl who was photographed smiling at each of the Joker crime scenes with the dead victims. Some photos were posed like posh dinner parties with the dead bodies, others where she was staged with the bodies like a nativity scene. The more gruesome ones are where she lays with the bodies as if they were lovers. She was always smiling. Always Smiling. The doctor shuddered.

"I thought Smiles was a willing participant in the staging of the crime scenes."

"That's what the media has tricked people into thinking. They never disclosed the actual information concerning her because the Cane family paid them not to. They reporters never mention the joker's messages that were scrawled on the back of every photo. He always wrote that Ms. McAlan/Cane, his beloved toy, enjoyed fulfilling all of his requests. Most of which were barely legible, but noted as demeaning and utterly sadistic, I won't go into details. But he took the pictures to show she was excited by his crimes, that's why she is always smiling. He had turned the girl against her own sanity."

"That poor girl."

"You may think that, but others disagree."

"They think she's a liar! How? The photos alone are proof enough." He raised his hands defensively.

"I didn't say that, but others have their doubts about the credibility of her story."

"Because she hears voices?"

"Well yes, and also because she has a hard time deciphering reality from fantasy. She believes that the Joker lurks in her room at all hours of the day and when confronted about it, she tends to get violent. Which explains tonight's episode. The guards tried to sedate her, and she became psychically volatile. That's why you are assigned to oversee her until Dr. Peterson returns."

"May I talk to her?" The warden seemed reluctant.

"You may, but remember to record everything you do with her, so Dr. Peterson is fully informed when he gets back." She shook her head, understanding her new responsibility. "Here's her file, good luck with this one." She nodded once more, before she left the room. She could no longer deal with the warden's borderline dependency on alcohol; it's no way for someone to cope through the day. She begin to flip through her file.

_Cecilia 'McAlan', age twenty-two. Patient has __extreme_ _anxiety issues, borderline schizophrenic and is easily violent. She fears and talks to things that are not real. She is clearly disturbed by her experiences, but willing to cooperate to a certain degree. Usually until she is triggered to attack. It isn't known as what sets her off, but she is considered a major threat to everyone around her, but mostly to herself. She self-abuses, which she claims her demon/captor tells her to do. The other voices seem to be a calming defense mechanism against her 'demon'. But 'they' also tell her to do things to herself. She has a tendency to call out for her 'daddy'; it is unknown to who it is meant for. We assume it is a plea towards her father, to come rescue her when her 'demon' is around. Note: This patient is a participant in profiling her captor._

Was Dr. Peterson seriously using this traumatized girl as subject matter, so he can profile the Joker? He was walking along a dangerous line by performing these specific interviews with her. This is why Arkham is going downhill. Dr. Peterson was clearly violating standard ethics with this patient, but was not being chastised for it. And all of it was well documented. But everyone was so obsessed with figuring out how the Joker functions, instead of helping the girl. They're gaining knowledge at her expense.

10:37 p.m. Saturday, February 20th, 2010

Through the two-way mirror, I watched the subject twitch and convulse against her restraints. She fought feverishly. Her hair was knotted with snarls; her body was fresh with sweat. She was screaming with all her might.

"HE'S HERE! HEY DADDY! THEY'RE TAKING ME. AWAY. AWAY." She fidgeted again before screaming once more. "THEY'RE EATING! THEY'RE EATING! PLEASE HELP ME!" I winced. She sounded positively frighten. This girl had seriously gone through hell and back.

"Are you sure you can handle this?" Charlie, the guard asked.

"Yes, I just wanted to see her behavior first hand."

"Well you're in heading head first into an inferno of insanity."

"I'm just here to make sure she doesn't explode before Peterson gets back."

"Good luck with that Cathy. I'll see you later." She waved good-bye and shook her head. It was the second time within an hour; someone said good luck to her. Cecilia can't be that bad. She haven't met a patient yet, that has defeated her methods.


	2. Finally, The Long Wait

2:20 a.m. Monday, February 22nd, 2010

She woke up to someone senselessly shaking her. "Dr. Tullius you're needed. She's threaten her bed. She's cut herself up trying to hurt it." She threw herself up; one requirement of overseeing Cecilia was staying in the guest facility in Arkham. She stretched trying to make her joints pop. The beds are so uncomfortable here; maybe that's why she's trying to fight the bed. She slipped on her robe, and made a mad dash to where all the commotion was coming from.

"Ms. McAlan calm down, your doctor will be here soon."

"THAT'S NOT MY NAME!" She shrieked. "HE'S GOING TO GET YOU ALL!"

"Ms. McAlan, you need to calm down otherwise I have to restrain you."

"HE'S GOING TO GET YOU!" She heard a several crashes. "LET GO OF ME! LET GO!" Finally she had reached the cell, where she witnessed the guard slamming Cecilia against the ground. The patient thrashed violently against him.

"What are you doing to her?"

"What's it look like to you? She's out of control." Blood dripped her gown.

"LET GO OF ME! THEY'RE WAITING!" She ran to her side, Cecila was bleeding profusely.

"Stand down now. Get a cart and a needle."

"NO NEEDLES. THEY ENJOY NEEDLES! HE DOES THINGS WITH THE NEEDLES!" She screamed. The guard returned quickly, she plunged the needle into her leg. "STOP. STOP. FACING HIM. MY SOUL. My soul. It's ruining…" She grew quiet.

_Patient had another violent episode. She attacked her bed, and assaulted the guard. She ranted that 'he' was going to get all of us, and 'they' enjoy needles._

"Finally, I thought she would never stop." Sighed the guard. She flipped Cecila over, many of her lacerations were gushing with blood, and she hand a nasty bruise on the side of her face.

"Hand me some gauze, this might take a while."

Second part of the story below

1:03 p.m. Thursday, February 25th, 2010

_The patient has finally regained conscious. She's dazed and mildly pleasant. _

"Cecilia, how are you feeling?" She groaned.

"Everything hurts." She sat down next to her.

"That's understandable. You did a number to your bed the other night."

"He wasn't letting me sleep."

"Who wasn't letting you sleep?" She didn't reply. "Can I ask you something?"

"You're going to anyways." She grumbled.

"What did you mean, when 'he does things with needles'?" Tears fell from her eyes.

"He…he used to stick me with needles. Some burned, others didn't. He would just stand over me and laugh. He would laugh for hours."

"Did he ever tell you why you were with him?"

"No. He just kept saying…ah…he would say…" She paused. "I don't remember. When I close my eyes, all I see is his smile. His awful smile."

"He has a Glasgow smile, right?"

"If that's what you call it, then yeah. It was wrong. He would get mad, if I wouldn't look at him. But I couldn't look without breathing heavy. It scared me so bad."

"I'm sorry to hear that." She placed my palm on top of Cecila's, she smiled for a moment. Then Cecila snapped.

"DON'T TOUCH ME! DON'T TOUCH ME!" She backed up.

"I'm not touching you. I'm not touching you. Calm down, Cecilia."

_The patient had to be restrained again, and heavily sedated. She talked a little bit about the Joker. She admitted to being pricked with needles, and he would stand over her and laugh. She also talked about his Glasgow smile. He would make her stare at him, because he knew it frighten her. I tried to comfort her by the simplest of touch, and then she snapped. She broke several of the walls surrounding her and had ripped out a lock of a guard's hair as many of them tried to hold her down. _

11:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 15th, 2010

_This is the twentieth interview that I have conducted with her recently. Her stability seems to rebound more and more lately. Delusions seem to be her only escape from something that I can't personally find. She has been confined with chains and shackles for her and my safety at all times. _

"Cecilia, I'm going to be straight forward with you. If you don't start taking your medication, the warden is going to have you monitored with cameras all hours of the day. He believes that your behavior is becoming too much of a problem to deal with at the moment. If you don't try to help yourself, he is going to take the last privilege he can away from you. You will no longer to have any outside contact with anyone, your only company will be from the cameras. Do you want to be monitored like that?"

"You can't do that." She frowned.

"Why not?" She laid her head on her shoulder.

"He watches."

"Who watches?"

"He's always watching. They don't want that."

"What do you mean, Cecilia?"

"I can not live without them."

"Answer my question."

"I do not live without them."

"Cecilia, I am not playing this game with you. Answer my question."

"They say this thing inside of me, wants to get out."

"What are you talking about?"

"All it does is scream and shout."

"Are you trying to tell me something? Are you saying you're pregnant?"

"I'm trying not to let them out." Just barely audible.

"What aren't you trying to not let out?"

"They tell me to hurt myself." This time a little louder. "They tell me to hurt myself." Next she screamed and tried to stand up. "THEY TELL ME TO HURT MYSELF!"

"Cecilia calm down, there's nothing to get worried about."

"THEY TELL ME TO HURT MYSELF!" She just kept screaming, no matter what the doctor tried. "THEY TELL ME TO HURT MYSELF! THEY TELL ME TO HURT MYSELF!" She began to knock on the door, so the guard would open it and let her leave. There was nothing more that she could do for Cecila, she just wanted to leave. "I'M NOT GOING TO LISTEN!"

_Patient was acting irrational. She began to persistently scream after I had warned her about the monitoring. She said that he watches. Then she starts ranting on about what her voices tell her. I find her to be untreatable, for the next couple weeks she will be only dealt with via camera feed. _

4:26 p.m. Friday, March 18th, 2010

_Cecilia waves at the camera fearfully. She been doing this periodically over the last couple of days, like she is waiting for someone. _

6:14 p.m. Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

_She exhibits compulsive behavior. We gave her a large puzzle set, each piece was the size of her hand. Instead of putting the puzzle together she begins to stack them in different spots throughout the room. After hours of doing this, she lines the pieces by the door and stares at the camera approvingly. _

"Cathy, I have a call for you, it's Dr. Peterson." She sighed and got up from her chair. It was about time that he called her back, she has been overseeing his patient for too long. The nurse handed the phone to her.

"Hello, Dr. Peterson?" Hefty breathing was all that she could hear. "Hello?"

"Hello, Dr. Tullius." His voice sounded strange, like he was trying to suppress some feeling that she can't describe.

"Are you calling to tell me you're back in Gotham now?"

"Yes, yes." He breathe in heavily again. "I would like to have a meeting with you tomorrow, if possible. I would like to discuss your progress with," He seemed to utter her name with a mischievous regard, "Cecilia."

"Well I have a lot of work to go over before we can meet. So does later at night work with you? We could all possibly have a session with Cecilia around 9:00 p.m.?"

"Yes, yes that will work. See you soon, Cathy." He hung up quickly. He seemed to stretch out his sentence. He sounded strange.

"Is Dr. Peterson back in Gotham?"

"Yeah he is. He going to visit with Cecilia and me tomorrow around 9:00."

"Really? I hope you know that it's just going to be you, him and the guards tomorrow night."

"Why is that?"

"Mandatory conference. All have been subjected to go, except you and the guards."

"Oh fun. I hope you have a 'great' time. But I need to finish my report on Cecilia if I'm going to be meeting up with Dr. Peterson tomorrow. I'll see you Friday." She waved and went back to heroffice.

8:45 p.m. Thursday, April 1st, 2010

She shuffled her papers around, and stared at the clock. Fifteen minutes until she relinquish her rights over Cecilia. Her nerves were starting to get to her. The patients today have been eerily quiet, even the ones with extreme anxiety problems. Which is quite unexpected because their schedules have been switch around, and they normally don't handle change very well. She sighed. It was time to go. The lights flicker as she quickly raced down the hallways. Something was seriously bothering her tonight. She turned into the security room.

"Hey Charlie. How are you this evening?" She was alone in the room; the entrance to the cells was open. "Charlie are you there?" She heard a clinking noise. Slowly she crept towards the noise, to find a monitor had fell onto the floor. She still hadn't found where Charlie had went. She sighed again. Tonight is starting to get her edgy. She set the monitor back onto the table, it flashed to Cecilia's cell. Cecila was alone, smiling. She was smiling! She ran towards the cell and pushed against the door. "CECILIA! CECILIA LET ME IN!" Suddenly the door was opened and she was blinded. Bright flashes began to happen in quick repetitions. She stumbled into someone.

"You have to wait for your turn doll face." The Joker laughed as he threw her to the ground. She slammed into something. Quickly she backed into the wall, scared. He was laughing as he ran around the room taking photos from different angles. Cecilia was smiling as she sat causally on top of Charlie's body. Something began to leak on her hand; she stared at the pool of blood surrounding her. She was on top of Dr. Peterson's body; his face was completely blown off.

"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" She started screaming. Joker pulled her off of Dr. Peterson's body. She stared at her bloody hands.

"So how was your consultation with Dr. Peterson?" He began to maniacally laugh in her ear. He turned her towards him, as he licked his horrible scars. They were more gruesome in person than in pictures. "Why so serious?" Cecilia started to whimper.

9:17 p.m. Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Blood sprayed the wall behind him as he slashed Dr. Tullius's throat. He let the doctor's body drop to the floor. He raised his leg to kick away the body but his toy cried out.

"Please, don't." He turned on his heel and smiled at his toy, which was cowering on the other side of the room. The gleaming blade switched to his other hand; he pressed it against the soft skin of her neck. She began to smile at him. Just like she always should.

"Oh did she mean something to you?"

"No." She lied.

"No?" The Joker started to press the knife harder into her neck, her heart started to race. He was getting excited from her fear.

"She was the only one trying to help me." He dropped the knife, and held his stomach. He let out a gut-wrenching laugh.

"Help you. Nothing can help you." Tears began to well up in her eyes. He dragged his sad toy back towards the body of the female doctor. "Pick her up." She shook her head. "PICK HER UP!" She quickly bent down to pull the body up. He pulled a handful of her hair. "Good girl. Now let's make this a moment to remember."

7:30 a.m. Friday, April 2nd, 2010

_Massive breakout from Arkham last night. Joker and Smiles had stuck again. Fifteen guards and two doctors were found slaughter in a cell in Arkham's isolation unit. Smiles had posed for one more picture before leaving with the other escaping criminals. Viewers beware that what we are going to show you is graphic and not suited for young eyes. _**The picture showed up the screen. **_It seems that Smiles is delicately brushing the hair of deceased Dr. Cathy Tullius._ **The doctor's body was dripping blood from the neck, and Cecilia was working on her hair as if she didn't notice. She was beautifully smiling for the world to see. **

He turned the television off smiling, and he licked his lips. A habit he had, when he was lost in a thought. He crept to his toy's sleeping form. He extracted a needle from his pocket. "I hope you missed me, because I've been patiently waiting for your return." He plunged the needle into her pale skin.


End file.
